Presbyterians (PCUSA) Open General Assembly with Prayer to… Allah!?

The Presbyterian Church, U.S.A (PCUSA) opened its 222nd General Assembly by having Muslim offering up prayers to ‘Allah’ during a time of vigilance for the victims of terrorism.

”Incline towards peace and justice and trust in God, for the Lord is one that hears and knows everything and the servants of God, the most compassionate, the most merciful, gracious are those who walk in the earth in humility and when bigots and hateful and Islamophobes address them, they say peace. Peace be upon them and peace be upon Allah,” he said in conclusion.”

The move was very controversial, in fact, one attendee Mateen Elass, a former Muslim who now works with a ministry for Arab-speaking individuals called Voice of the Truth, called the event one which “denied the gospel and lordship of Jesus Christ.”

There was also controversy when the FBI released a redacted transcript of the 911 phone call made by the Orlando terrorist, because (among other reasons) the FBI translated the word Allah into God.

The two incidents got me thinking, what if we all worship the same God? I am not suggesting we all follow the same faith or worship the same way. But wouldn’t it solve many of our problems if we changed the word that every faith uses to refer to the Creator of the Universe? If we all referred to God with the same word, perhaps the Democrats and even President Obama would seek to protect people of all faiths instead of just the ones who pray to Allah…

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